Curt Schilling is a baseball god to me. What he did with my beloved Red Sox in 2004 — the bloody sock, Game 6 of the ALCS, the team’s first World Series victory in 86 years (a victory for which Curt was largely responsible) — earned a revered and hallowed place in my heart for Curt Schilling The Pitcher.
Curt Schilling The Political Commentator? Not so much.
Which brings us to the following tête-à-tête (tweet-a-tweet?).
nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/… Men & women fought and died for this right, gave their lives for this right, and we’re going to complain about a wait?
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 5, 2013
I thought I should let Curt know that he was missing the point.
@gehrig38 @jwpetersnyt Curt, the 2nd half of your question should be “and we’re going to let crooked Republicans tamper with that right?”
— Daddy Scratches (@DaddyScratches) February 5, 2013
Also: Really? Curt Schilling is going to make public proclamations about waiting in line to vote? Curt Schilling, who lives in Medfield, Massachusetts, a town whose population of roughly 12,000 is 96.78% white and whose median household income is $126,000? Yeah, I’m sure the line at his polling place snaked around the block. Let’s find out.
@gehrig38 PS: I’m curious: How long was your wait in lily-white upper-class suburbia? Mine was 0 mins. It’s good to be white and privileged.
— Daddy Scratches (@DaddyScratches) February 5, 2013
Curt responded with one of those knee-jerk, right-wing mantras:
@daddyscratches Or to piss and moan, make excuses and not be accountable for yourself either?
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 5, 2013
I’m still not clear what that had to do with the topic we were debating, but, OK, let’s frame it in Curt’s terms: I’m sure Curt wouldn’t piss and moan about waiting seven hours to cast his ballot, right? And certainly he’d be interested to know that high-ranking Florida GOP officials have said that their own party should be held accountable for deliberately causing those long waits instead of making phony excuses about why they occurred. Let’s share that revelation with him.
@gehrig38 “GOP admits Florida law that [caused] long voter lines intentionally designed by GOP to inhibit Dem. voters.” palmbeachpost.com/news/news/stat…
— Daddy Scratches (@DaddyScratches) February 5, 2013
Confronted with facts, Curt did what his buddy George W. Bush used to do under similar circumstances: He refused to accept reality.
@daddyscratches Well if it was printed in the media it has to be true right?
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 5, 2013
Umm…
@gehrig38 … says the guy who started this with a NY Times link…? (GOP officials are quoted in the Palm Beach article. Are they lying?)
— Daddy Scratches (@DaddyScratches) February 5, 2013
Unsurprisingly, that’s where Curt and I parted ways … but, thankfully, sports writer Howard Bryant took over and helped guide Curt to the light.
@hbryant42 what was the point again?
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 5, 2013
@gehrig38 the point is fairness: if the lines are short in rich areas, people vote easier. If they’re long in poor areas, the poor lose.
— Howard Bryant (@hbryant42) February 5, 2013
@hbryant42 Lines are longer where more people live, shorter where less people live, what does it have to do with rich/poor?
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 5, 2013
@gehrig38 not true. More people live in NYC than Broward County, but no one in Manhattan waited 7 hours to vote, but the poor in Fla did.
— Howard Bryant (@hbryant42) February 5, 2013
@hbryant42 Then have the states with issues create more polling places.
— Curt Schilling (@gehrig38) February 5, 2013
Great idea, Curt! Sounds like the sort of thing the government should look into! Oh, wait: They already are! Or, at least, I think they are … according to the article you posted. I’m skeptical, though. It is, after all, printed in the media.
8 Comments
I don’t share your baseball views of Curt Shilling (I am a Yankee fan, after all…don’t hate me) but this just makes him sound like a blithering idiot.
I’ll say one thing, Curt is never afraid to make an asshat out of himself. And I give him props for not cowering on social media like his hockey asshat counterpart, Tim Thomas. But that’s the only thing I’ll accede to him. And maybe the bloody sock.
Meg Lessard´s most recent blog post: Where I Left Texas and Walked Through Tuscany.
Schilling has done so much to dispel the “dumb jock” stereotype.
Meanwhile, I’m totally taking the twitter handle “schilling07″
thedavidcmurphy´s most recent blog post: Death Breath and the Expensive Couch Cushion
Being middle class as I am I waited two hours to vote. I also live in a mostly Hispanic community here in Carrollton, TX. So yeah, I burned my lunch hour and then some. My wife in turn did the same. All for a chance to exercise my civic duty. There was one person with a computer checking voters in. ONE PERSON!!! For the love of monkeys. Lots of empty booths but with only one person with a computer, an elderly volunteer, how were people going to get through in a timely fashion. Oh wait, we live right off of the George Bush Tollway. It makes sense now. http://beingsmokey.blogspot.com/2012/11/so-i-voted.html
Smokeynall´s most recent blog post: The First Goalie Post.
Oh, and to Meg Lessard, as an ice hockey goalie for 25 years and someone that used to like Timmy Thomas, yes, he’s the captain of the S.S. Douche Canoe.
Smokeynall´s most recent blog post: Non Calls
Completely excellent exchange. But WAIT – Seriously??? Schilling has the chutzpah to name his twitter account after Lou Gehrig?? I find that… reprehensible. Don’t know why. He was indeed a savior to the Sox, but, like you, I definitely part ways with him in the political arena. Maybe that’s why… (And? I know nothing about Gehrig’s politics. So. Just a whacky, off-topic comment here…) PS – here due to your comments on TheBloggess, which I always find entertaining
Gurukarm´s most recent blog post: How Would You Survive?
Ha! You’re awesome!
Schilling is totally a Red Sox god, but I lost some respect for him during his post-victory interview. It was an election year, and he told people how to vote. Hey, he has his opinions and I have mine, but I didn’t appreciate it. Also, I thought it was inappropriate. I just wanted to enjoy the victory and not be preached at.